Race Report by Mmedo Duffort
Following our prowess in Paris, Louis and I agreed to represent team GB in Grenoble for a three day slalom event hosted by the Désaxé Worldride Festival. The trip took a slightly healthier turn than our recent attempts at climbing the slalom peaks but was fun (nonetheless). The flight to Geneva was as stupidly early as it was cheap but turned out to be a great idea. My dad picked us up from Geneva airport with a car (complete with full tank and free toll pass) and let us off to make our way to the GS spot, just outside Grenoble. There, we met with Guillaume St-Criq, the locals and the few French riders who had travelled from Brittany for a very, very fast hillside GS (think retaining wall on one side, drop on the other, speeds of up to 30mph and you’ll get an idea…).
The GS Hill
Mika and Viking arrived later on and a dozen riders began their practice. With so few riders, Guillaume opted for four timed runs; and what a wonderful idea that was! 4 hours, in the sun, shooting cones with nice people… Viking took first spot, Louis took third, and I took sixth; just behind Christopher Dupont and a little ahead of Guillaume, who’s no mug!
With rain forecast for Sunday, Saturday saw us race both tight and special. Viking took the tight, Mika took the special whilst Louis took fourth and seventh, which, considering that Fabian Koula (Switzerland) and Vincent Langlade (France) showed up for the day, was pretty good going for our very own UK#1TM.
Overall result for the weekend read:
1 Open Viking Hadestrand, Sweden/Pro
2 Open Mikael Hadestrand, Sweden/Pro
3 Open Christopher Dupont, France/Pro
4 Open Louis Selby, Great Britain/Pro
5 Open Vincent Tanguy, France
6 Open Guillaume Saint-Criq, France /Pro
7 Open Mmedo Duffort, Great Britain
8 Open Franck Pannetier, France
9 Open Vincent Langlade, France/Pro
10 Open Fabian Koula, Switzerland
11 Open Jadranko Radovanovic,Switzerland
12 Open Erika Schoirfer, France
13 Open Lydie Visona, France
14 Open Anne Alexandre, France
Prize money were generous and extended to 4th spot which gave Louis a long awaited justification for his pro status!
Louis, Mika and Viking
Sunday was rained out in the morning but the Nations Cup took place in the afternoon in front of much larger crowds than we had on Saturday. Unsurprisingly, Sweden took top spot. Surprisingly, Team GB took second.
Overall, it was a great weekend of slalom. Fewer riders meant more runs for everyone. Hopefully, regular cheap flights to Geneva should ensure that more Brits take part next year.